INFORMATION ON GOODS AND SERVICES
GOODS (CENSUS BASIS)
Data for goods on a Census basis are compiled from the
documents collected by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection
and reflect the movement of goods between foreign countries
and the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S.
Virgin Islands, and U.S. Foreign Trade Zones. They include
government and non-government shipments of goods and
exclude shipments between the United States and its territories
and possessions; transactions with U.S. military, diplomatic, and
consular installations abroad; U.S. goods returned to the United
States by its Armed Forces; personal and household effects of
travelers; and in-transit shipments. The General Imports value
reflects the total arrival of merchandise from foreign countries
that immediately enters consumption channels, warehouses, or
Foreign Trade Zones.
For imports, the value reported is the U.S. Customs and Border
Protection appraised value of merchandise—generally, the price
paid for merchandise for export to the United States. Import
duties, freight, insurance, and other charges incurred in bringing
merchandise to the United States are excluded.
Exports are valued at the f.a.s. (free alongside ship) value of
merchandise at the U.S. port of export, based on the transaction
price including inland freight, insurance, and other charges
incurred in placing the merchandise alongside the carrier at the
U.S. port of exportation.
Revision policy for goods on a Census basis: Monthly data
include actual month's transactions as well as a small number of
transactions for previous months. Each month, the U.S. Census
Bureau revises the aggregate seasonally adjusted (current and
real chained-dollar) and unadjusted export, import, and trade
balance figures, as well as the end-use totals for the prior month.
For December and January statistical month releases, each prior
month of the most recent full year is revised in order to align the
seasonally adjusted monthly data with annual totals. Country
detail data and commodity detail data, based on the Standard
International Trade Classification (SITC) Revision 4 and the
North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), are
not revised monthly. The timing adjustment shown in Exhibit
14 is the difference between monthly data as originally reported
and as recompiled. In addition, for March, June, September,
and December statistical month releases, revisions are made to
the real chained-dollar series presented in Exhibits 10 and 11:
the previous five months are revised to incorporate the Bureau
of Labor Statistics’ revisions to price indexes, which are used to
produce the real chained-dollar series and to align Census data
with data published by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
(BEA) in the national income and product accounts (NIPAs).
Annual revisions for the months are made in June to reflect
corrections received subsequent to the monthly revisions. These
revisions are reflected in totals, end-use, commodity, and
country summary data. The monthly end-use, commodity, and
country and area data presented in Exhibits 6-18 in this release
are on a Census basis.
U.S./CANADA DATA EXCHANGE AND
SUBSTITUTION
Data for U.S. exports to Canada are derived from import data
compiled by Canada. The use of Canada's import data to
produce U.S. export data requires several alignments in order to
compare the two series.
1. Coverage - Canadian imports are based on country of
origin. U.S. goods shipped from a third country are
included. U.S. exports exclude these foreign shipments.
For July 2013, these shipments totaled $123.4 million. U.S.
export coverage also excludes U.S. postal shipments to
Canada. For July 2013, these shipments totaled $20.9
million.
U.S. import coverage includes shipments of railcars and
locomotives from Canada. Effective with January 2004
statistics, Canada excludes these shipments from its goods
exports to the United States, therefore creating coverage
differences between the two countries for these goods.
2. Valuation - Canadian imports are valued at the point of
origin in the United States. However, U.S. exports are
valued at the port of exit in the United States and include
inland freight charges, making the U.S. export value
slightly larger than the Canadian import value. Canada
requires inland freight to be reported separately from the
value of the goods. Combining the inland freight and the
Canadian reported import value provides a consistent
valuation for all U.S. exports. Inland freight charges for
July 2013 accounted for 2.4 percent of the value of U.S.
exports to Canada.
3. Reexports - Unlike Canadian imports, which are based on
country of origin, U.S. exports include reexports of foreign
goods. Therefore, the aggregate U.S. export figure is
slightly larger than the Canadian import figure. For July
2013, reexports to Canada were $4,061.0 million.
4. Exchange Rate - Average monthly exchange rates are
applied to convert the published data to U.S. currency. For
July 2013, the average exchange rate was 1.0402 Canadian
dollars per U.S. dollar.
5. Other - There are other minor differences, which are
statistically insignificant, such as rounding error.
Canadian Estimates: Effective with January 2001 statistics, the
current month data for exports to Canada contain an estimate for
late arrivals and corrections. The following month, this estimate
is replaced, in the news release exhibits only, with the actual
value of late receipts and corrections. This estimate improves
the current month data for exports to Canada and treats late
receipts for exports to Canada in a manner that is more
consistent with the treatment of late receipts for exports to other
countries.
NONSAMPLING ERRORS
The goods data are a complete enumeration of documents
collected by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and are not
subject to sampling errors. Quality assurance procedures are
performed at every stage of collection, processing, and
tabulation. However, the data are still subject to several types of
nonsampling errors. The most significant of these include
reporting errors, undocumented shipments, timeliness, data
capture errors, and errors in the estimation of low-valued
transactions.
Reporting Errors: Reporting errors are mistakes or omissions
made by importers, exporters, or their agents in their import or
export declarations. Most errors involve missing or invalid
commodity classification codes and missing or incorrect
quantities or shipping weights. They have a negligible effect on
aggregate import, export, and balance of trade statistics.
However, they can affect the detailed commodity statistics.
Undocumented Shipments: Federal regulations require
importers, exporters, or their agents to report all merchandise
shipments above established exemption levels. The U.S. Census
Bureau has determined that not all required documents are filed,
particularly for exports.
Timeliness and Data Capture Errors: The U.S. Census
Bureau captures import and export information from
administrative documents and through various automated
collection programs. Documents may be lost, and data may be
incorrectly keyed, coded, or recorded. Transactions may be
included in a subsequent month’s statistics if received late.
Low-valued Transactions: The total values of transactions
valued as much as or below $2,500 for exports and $2,000
($250 for certain quota items) for imports are estimated for each
country, using factors based on the ratios of low-valued
shipments to individual country totals for past periods.
The U.S. Census Bureau recommends that data users
incorporate this information into their analyses, as nonsampling
errors could impact the conclusion drawn from the results. For
a detailed discussion of errors affecting the goods data, see
“U.S. Merchandise Trade Statistics: A Quality Profile” available
at www.census.gov/foreign-trade/aip/index.html#infopapers or
from the Foreign Trade Division, U.S. Census Bureau.
AREA GROUPINGS (See Exhibits 14 and 14a)
North America: Canada, Mexico.
Europe: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan,
Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia,
Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands,
Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary,
Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia,
Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta,
Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland,
Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia,
Slovenia, Spain, Svalbard-Jan Mayen Island, Sweden,
Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United
Kingdom, Uzbekistan, Vatican City.
European Union: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus,
Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany,
Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg,
Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia,
Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom.
Euro Area: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France,
Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta,
Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain.
Pacific Rim: Australia, Brunei, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia,
Japan, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, New Zealand, Papua New
Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan.
South/Central America: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda,
Argentina, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda,
Bolivia, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Chile,
Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican
Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Falkland Islands (Islas
Malvinas), French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala,
Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat,
Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Sint
Maarten, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the
Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos
Islands, Uruguay, Venezuela.
OPEC: Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya,
Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela.
Africa: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, British Indian Ocean
Territories, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde,
Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo (Brazzaville),
Congo (Kinshasa), Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea,
Ethiopia, French Southern and Antarctic Lands, Gabon,
Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya,
Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania,
Mauritius, Mayotte, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger,
Nigeria, Reunion, Rwanda, St. Helena, Sao Tome and Principe,
Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South
Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda,
Western Sahara, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
ADJUSTMENTS FOR SEASONAL AND TRADING-DAY
VARIATIONS
Goods are initially classified under the Harmonized Commodity
Description and Coding System (Harmonized System), which
describes and measures the characteristics of goods traded.
Combining trade into approximately 140 export and 140 import
end-use categories makes it possible to examine goods
according to their principal uses (see Exhibits 7 and 8). These
categories are used as the basis for computing the seasonal and
trading-day adjusted data. These adjusted data are then summed
to the six end-use aggregates for publication (see Exhibit 6).
These data are provided to BEA, from the U.S. Census Bureau,
for use in the NIPAs and in the international transactions
accounts (balance of payments accounts).
The seasonal adjustment procedure is based on a model that
estimates the monthly movements as percentages above or
below the general level of each end-use commodity series
(unlike other methods that redistribute the actual series values
over the calendar year). Because of the extremely variable
movements of the data series for aircraft, users studying data
trends may wish to analyze aircraft separately from other trade.
ADJUSTMENTS FOR PRICE CHANGE
Data adjusted for seasonal variation on a chained-dollar basis
(2009 base year) are presented in Exhibits 10 and 11. This
adjustment for price change is done using the Fisher chain-
weighted methodology. The deflators are primarily based upon
the monthly price indexes published by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics using techniques developed for the NIPAs by BEA.
PRINCIPAL COMMODITIES
Goods data appearing in Exhibit 15 are classified in terms of the
SITC Revision 4, with the exception of agricultural and
manufactured goods. Agricultural goods are defined by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA); they consist of non-marine
food products and other products of agriculture that have not
passed through complex processes of manufacture.
Manufactured goods conform to the NAICS; they consist of
goods that have been mechanically, physically, or chemically
transformed. USDA agricultural goods and NAICS
manufactured goods are not mutually exclusive categories.
Reexports are foreign merchandise entering the country as
imports and then exported in substantially the same condition as
when imported. Reexports, included in overall export totals,
appear as separate line items in Exhibit 15.
ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTS
About 500 of some 22,000 Harmonized System classification
codes used in reporting U.S. merchandise trade are identified as
"advanced technology" codes, and they meet the following
criteria:
1. The code contains products whose technology is from a
recognized high technology field (e.g., biotechnology).
2. These products represent leading edge technology in that
field.
3. Such products constitute a significant part of all items
covered in the selected classification code.
The aggregation of the goods results in a measure of advanced
technology trade that appears in Exhibits 16 and 16a. This
product- and commodity-based measure of advanced technology
differs from broader NAICS-based measures, which include all
goods produced by a particular industry group, regardless of the
level of technology embodied in the goods.
GOODS (BALANCE OF PAYMENTS BASIS)
Goods on a Census basis are adjusted by BEA to a balance of
payments basis to align the data with the concepts and
definitions used to prepare the international and national
economic accounts. These adjustments, which are applied
separately to exports and imports, are necessary to supplement
coverage of the Census data, to eliminate duplication of
transactions recorded elsewhere in the international accounts,
and to value transactions at market prices. They include both
additions to and deductions from goods on a Census basis and
are presented in this release as “Net Adjustments.” Adjustments
that exhibit significant seasonal patterns are seasonally adjusted.
BEA also publishes more detailed quarterly and annual statistics
for Net Adjustments in a standard table of the U.S. international
transactions accounts, Table 2. U.S. Trade in Goods. See the
BEA Web site at www.bea.gov/iTable/index_ita.cfm or the
January, April, July, and October issues of the Survey of Current
Business.
The export adjustments include:
Exports under U.S. military sales contracts - This
adjustment reflects the net amount of two separate
adjustments. BEA first deducts goods identified in the
Census data as exports under the U.S. Foreign Military
Sales program. BEA then adds primary source data for
these exports, which are reported to BEA by the U.S.
Department of Defense.
Gold exports, nonmonetary - This addition is made for
gold that is purchased by foreign official agencies from
private dealers in the United States and held at the Federal
Reserve Bank of New York. The Census data only include
gold that leaves the U.S. customs territory.
Goods procured in U.S. ports by foreign carriers - This
addition is made for foreign air and ocean carriers’ fuel
purchases in U.S. ports.
Low-value transactions - This addition is made to phase in
a revised Census Bureau methodology for low-value goods
for statistics prior to 2010. The revised Census
methodology was implemented for goods on a Census basis
beginning with statistics for 2010.
Other adjustments to exports include:
Deductions for equipment repairs (parts and labor),
developed motion picture film, and military grant-aid.
Additions for sales of fish caught in U.S. territorial waters,
exports of electricity to Mexico, private gift parcels, vessels
and oil rigs for which ownership changes, and valuation of
software exports at market value.
The import adjustments include:
Gold imports, nonmonetary - This addition is made for
gold sold by foreign official agencies to private purchasers
out of stock held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
The Census data only include gold that enters the U.S.
customs territory.
Goods procured in foreign ports by U.S. carriers - This
addition is made for U.S. air and ocean carriers’ fuel
purchases in foreign ports.
Imports by U.S. military agencies - This addition is made
for purchases of goods abroad by U.S. military agencies,
which are reported to BEA by the U.S. Department of
Defense. The Census data only include imports of goods
by U.S. military agencies that enter the U.S. customs
territory.
Inland freight in Canada and Mexico - This addition is
made for inland freight in Canada and Mexico. Imports of
goods from all countries should be valued at the customs
value—the value at the foreign port of export including
inland freight charges. For imports from Canada and
Mexico, this should be the cost of the goods at the U.S.
border. However, the customs value for imports for certain
Canadian and Mexican goods is the point of origin in
Canada or Mexico. BEA makes an addition for the inland
freight charges of transporting these goods to the U.S.
border to make the value comparable to the customs value
reported for imports from other countries.
Low-value transactions - This addition is made to phase in
a revised Census Bureau methodology for low-value goods
for statistics prior to 2010. The revised Census
methodology was implemented for goods on a Census basis
beginning with statistics for 2010.
Other adjustments to imports include:
Deductions for equipment repairs (parts and labor), repairs
to U.S. vessels abroad, and developed motion picture film.
Additions for non-reported imports of locomotives and
railcars, imports of electricity from Mexico, conversion of
vessels for commercial use, and valuation of software
imports at market value.
SERVICES
The services statistics cover transactions between foreign
countries and the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto
Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and other U.S. territories and
possessions. Transactions with U.S. military, diplomatic, and
consular installations abroad are excluded because these
installations are considered to be part of the U.S. economy.
Services statistics are based on quarterly, annual, and
benchmark surveys and information obtained from monthly
government and industry reports. Services are seasonally
adjusted when statistically significant seasonal patterns are
present. No monthly country or area detail is available due to
the lack of adequate source data.
Services are shown in seven broad categories. The types of
services for exports and imports are the same for six of the
categories. For the seventh, the export category is transfers
under U.S. military sales contracts and the import category is
direct defense expenditures. The following is a brief description
of the types of services included in each category:
Travel - Purchases of services and goods by U.S. travelers
abroad and by foreign visitors to the United States. A
traveler is defined as a person who stays for a period of less
than one year in a country of which the person is not a
resident. Includes cruise fares and expenditures for food,
lodging, recreation, gifts, and other items incidental to a
foreign visit.
Passenger fares - Fares paid by residents of one country to
transportation carriers of other countries. Receipts consist
of fares received by U.S. carriers from foreign residents for
travel between the United States and foreign countries and
between two foreign points. Payments consist of fares paid
by U.S. residents to foreign carriers for travel between the
United States and foreign countries. Excludes cruise fares,
which are included in travel.
Other transportation - Transactions include freight
charges for the transportation of goods to and from the
United States, operating expenses that transportation
companies incur in foreign ports, space transport services,
postal services, and payments for vessel charter and aircraft
leases with crew. Excludes air and ocean carriers’ fuel
purchases in foreign ports, which are included in exports
and imports of goods on a balance of payments (BOP)
basis.
Royalties and license fees - Transactions for the rights to
use, the rights to reproduce or distribute, and the outright
sale or purchase of intellectual property such as patents,
techniques, processes, formulas, designs, know-how,
trademarks, copyrights, franchises, and manufacturing
rights. The term "royalties" generally refers to payments
for the use of copyrights or trademarks; the term "license
fees" generally refers to payments for the use of patents or
industrial processes. Includes fees for the rights to
distribute film and television recordings.
Other private services - Transactions consist of education
services; financial services (includes fees and commissions
and excludes investment income); insurance services;
telecommunications services (includes transmission
services and value-added services); business, professional,
and technical services (includes advertising services;
computer and data processing services; database and other
information services; research, development, and testing
services; management, consulting, and public relations
services; legal services; construction services; architectural
and engineering services; mining services; industrial
engineering services; installation, maintenance, and repair
of equipment; and medical services); and other services.
Transfers under U.S. military sales contracts (Exports
only) - Transactions include exports of services, such as
training services and repair services, provided by U.S.
government military agencies through grants and the U.S.
Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. Excludes exports
of goods under the FMS program, which are included in
exports of goods on a BOP basis.
Direct defense expenditures (Imports only) - Transactions
include expenditures by U.S. military agencies abroad,
including expenditures by U.S. personnel, payments of
wages to foreign residents, construction expenditures, and
payments for foreign contractual services. Excludes
purchases of goods abroad, which are included in imports
of goods on a BOP basis.
U.S. government miscellaneous services - Transactions of
U.S. government nonmilitary agencies with foreign
residents. Most of these transactions involve the provision
of services to, or purchases of services from, foreigners.
Some goods transactions are also included.
MONTHLY RELEASE SCHEDULE
Month
Date
Day
Jan
03-07-13
Thursday
Feb
04-05-13
Friday
Mar
05-02-13
Thursday
Apr
06-04-13
Tuesday
May
07-03-13
Wednesday
Jun
08-06-13
Tuesday
Jul
09-04-13
Wednesday
Aug
10-08-13
Tuesday
Sep
11-05-13
Tuesday
Oct
12-04-13
Wednesday
Revision policy for goods on a balance of payments basis
and for services: Each month, a preliminary estimate for the
current month and a revised estimate for the immediately
preceding month are released. After the initial revision, no
further revisions are made to a month until more complete
source data become available in March, June, September, and
December. The releases in these months contain revised
estimates for the previous six months. The release in March
also contains revisions for all months of the previous year in
order to align the seasonally adjusted monthly data with annual
totals. The release in June also contains annual revisions, which
reflect newly available and revised source data, changes in
definitions and classifications, and changes in estimation
methods. In addition, the release in February contains revisions
to goods for January through November of the most recent year
in order to align the seasonally adjusted monthly data with
annual totals.
U.S. INTERNATIONAL TRANSACTIONS ACCOUNTS
Quarterly and annual estimates of goods on a balance of
payments basis and of services are included in the U.S.
international transactions accounts, which are published in news
releases in March, June, September, and December and in the
Survey of Current Business in the January, April, July, and
October issues. The next release of the international
transactions accounts is scheduled for September 19, 2013. The
Survey of Current Business is available online at
www.bea.gov/scb/index.htm.
DATA AVAILABILITY
The U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services news
release (FT-900) and the FT-900 Supplement are available at the
following:
www.census.gov/ft900
www.bea.gov/newsreleases/international/trade/tradnewsrelease.